A Sikh police officer is claiming £200,000 in a row about being asked to wear his turban over a helmet, which made him feel “like a character out of Only Fools and Horses”.
PC Gurmeal Singh, 31, of Greater Manchester Police, says he objected to being told to remove his turban to wear protective headgear instead during a riot training exercise, the Sun has reported.
He claims he feared being made to wrap material around a regular helmet to make a “crash turban” – like character Del Boy Trotter tried to flog in an episode of the hit comedy.
Singh is suing the force for racial and religious discrimination.
He told a Tribunal hearing: “I am deeply offended. My turban is not clothing, like a shirt, it is part of me, a part of my religion.
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“I felt I might have to wear a modified turban – a helmet with a turban around it, like in Only Fools and Horses.”
Greater Manchester Police denies the claim. The case continues.
